Clutches
by DySyncZ
Summary: Blake and Roman knew what they put at stakes by maintaining their relationship for as long as they could. However the consequences weren't something Blake was ever truly prepared for. Sephora Day.


Clutches

 **Happy Sephora Day everyone! The first and probably last annual of these, I love my little trash pile of a ship and I hope everyone enjoys this story!**

Light greeted met amber eyes as they opened to the sound of the alarm blaring right next to them. A hand reached over and shut it off as the woman lying in bed sat up and threw the covers off her. Her jet-black hair was sprawled in a mess all around her, her eyes now half open and black cat ears twitching on top of her head. She was wearing a plain white t-shirt that was two sizes two big and a pair of black shorts.

She had grown to hate mornings. When there was more noise in her life, mornings were a welcome addition to her life. They were silent moments away from the hectic chaos, a time to read, a time to think. She had grown to hate those kinds of times, especially since her life had been nothing but silence for six months.

She crawled out of bed and pulled out a small, digital pad and opened it up.

 _Welcome Back, Blake Belladonna,_ the text on screen greeted her. Blake saw one new message and opened it up. A sigh filled her room and she read who it was from.

 _Hey Blake! Me, Ruby and Weiss are going out today. Do you want to come join us?_ Blake worked up a quick response.

 _I'm busy today. This time I'm not lying; I leave when I'm ready. By the way, 'Ruby, Weiss and I' not what you said, Yang._

Yang was the only person who still tried to contact her every day. It had been decay after six months ago. First most of her former school friends broke off, then JNPR, then Weiss and as of a few weeks ago, Ruby had stopped messaging her daily. However Yang remained persistent, she wanted to get Blake out and around again.

Her team had split up, per order of the school. They were viewed as better off fighting and operating as individuals. All four of them were stationed in a separate city and though the distance wasn't great, Blake hardly saw her three friends anymore.

She tossed her scroll onto her bed as she stripped out of her clothing and started to put on clothing. Black shorts were replaced with long black leggings and a baggy t-shirt saw its replacement in a button up white top with a black, knee length jacket. As she slipped it on, she marveled at how it was so exceptionally well-tailored. Every time she put it on, it hugged her in the perfect ways and made her pause and smile. She quickly put on a pair of black, heeled boots and reached for the last piece of her wardrobe, a black bow with a red stripe going down the middle of it.

It felt like an eternity since the world had learned of Blake's true Faunus ancestry, but she still wore the bow. It was really an accessory more than anything else.

 _I suppose the cat is out of the bag,_ a man's voice rang in her head. Blake stopped tying her bow, face turning pure white.

"Stop saying that," she whispered softly.

 _Oh please, you know you love when I say that. Reminds you of something… More._

 _Three Years Ago_

* * *

Team RWBY had been tasked with tracking down Roman Torchwick, a war criminal who kept a floodgate of problems alive with every move he made. They had come close several times, but none had ever come as close as Blake had been that night.

She found Roman and had him pinned down in a forest, his back against a tree. Both parties were panting, having had a big rundown just before hand. But even with his back against a tree, he had a cocky smirk going straight across his face.

"Looks like the lion has caught the gazelle," he said. Blake was silent, her weapon pointed plainly at Roman's throat. "No final words? We had such a fantastic run together."

"Die here or die after a trial?" Blake asked flatly, doing her best to keep her tone monotone despite her desire to let him know how good it felt to finally see him at the tip of her sword.

"Can I choose neither?" Blake took a step closer to him and he held up his hands. "Hey, hey, calm down it was an honest question and I'll take that as an honest answer." One of his hands went down to his chin as he started to rub it thoughtfully.

"It's funny, kitty cat," he started. "You've been looking for me for longer than I can count and I've been avoiding you for all that time. No matter what the scenario has been, I managed to win in the end." He dropped his hands and looked straight at Blake. "But you're a fully trained huntress. How did I win?"

"Are you seriously fishing for compliments with your last breath?" Blake asked.

"No." Roman stepped forward, putting himself closer to Blake's sword, only a thrust away from the tip. "I'm telling you how our lives have been."

"If you take one-." Blake didn't even finish her sentence before Roman put his skin right next to the sword. Every part of Blake's mind told her body to thrust forward, put the blade through his throat and be rid of Roman. But her body wouldn't comply, she couldn't do it.

"We've let each other have free passes," he continued. "We let each other go free, we both want to know more." Not willing to test his theory too hard any further, he grabbed the blade out of Blake's hand and tossed it to the ground next to hm. "Two days from now, this spot, we'll talk." He stopped and looked at Blake. Her head was pointed straight down, she refused to meet his eyes. All she could feel was shame. Her only job was right in front of her and she couldn't finish it. She _let_ Roman take away Gambol Shroud, she _let_ Roman throw it to the ground and she was _letting_ him live.

"I'll take that back," Roman said, reaching behind Blake to where his cane was stationed. "I apologize for this, but I think you need a better story than what this is." He swung upwards with his weapon and caught Blake square in the chin, knocking her flat back against the ground. When she looked up again, he was gone.

* * *

 _Present Day_

Blake felt angry at that memory. She had failed, she disobeyed orders, and she had been stupid.

 _If I had just listened…_

Blake stopped and looked at her bedroom. It was simple, small. One bed, one night desk and three bookshelves was all that decorated it. She picked up her scroll and went to do her makeup while reading her newest message from Yang.

 _We'll be there in an hour and if you aren't gone I swear to God Belladonna you're getting a lecture._

 _Give it to my cat._

Once she finished with her makeup, she left the bathroom and walked into the kitchen and dining area. There, a small tabby cat greeted her by rubbing itself against her leg.

"Hi Dandy," she said. She bent down and scratched his ear, Dandy responded by purring in happiness but soon broke away from her and walking to the side of the entrance to her kitchen, where his food and water were. She smiled and filled up his food and water and watched as he happily ate.

Dandy, short for Dandelion, had been a gift to her from Ruby two months ago. Ruby had found him on a mission and he wouldn't leave her be. He only could have been a month or two old and Ruby knew she couldn't take in a cat since she was extremely active as a huntress. Yang suggested Blake and she happily took him in, which also had to include the name Ruby picked for him.

Now he was slowly getting bigger and maintaining good health and she loved that cat more than anything else. He was the best part of her day, the biggest escape she had.

"Mommy's going to be gone for a while, okay?" She said. "I know I haven't done this much but you're going to be alone today. I promise to reward you with a big dinner tonight." Dandy didn't look up from his food dish and Blake gave him one more scratch before picking an apple out of her fruit dish, grabbing a small bundle of black and orange flowers resting by her door and walking out of the door of her apartment.

* * *

 _Three Years Ago_

Blake spent the day after she let Roman get away reciting a story of how he had overpowered her and fought back and filling out paperwork. The next five days were her debating, does she take Roman's offer?

It seemed ridiculous to even consider but… She had let him go for a reason, one that her mind refused to share with her. She felt the need to see him again, the need to know what his intentions were. The rest of her was just thinking about how she could very well be walking into a trap.

The day after that she spent going to the woods. Fortunately Roman hadn't turned very much so getting back to the spot that they had met at wasn't a challenge.

"I didn't think you'd show up," Roman said, his voice present but body not there. Blake immediately drew her sword and pointed in the direction of his voice. Roman stepped out from behind one of the trees, his hands in the air and his cane not present. "Looks like someone doesn't have a lot of faith in me."

"Why should I?" Blake asked. "What gives me reason to put my trust in you?" Roman held his arms out flat and waited. Blake was silent, staring intently at him.

"Do you see anything on me?" Roman asked. Blake shook her head. "Now can you put your sword down and we can speak like civilized people?" Blake lowered her sword but didn't sheath it.

"You and I don't share a lot of similar view points," Roman said. "Obviously what we want to do with our time is on the opposite ends of the spectrum. However you and I aren't that different."

"Don't you-," Blake started.

"We both have passion, we both have drive and we both have the most important thing about a person, sass." Blake started to raise her sword again but Roman laughed and cut her off in the moment. It wasn't his normal laugh, the one he used to indicate that he was winning or had a leg up, it was a genuine laugh.

"Thank you for reinforcing my point," Roman said. Blake lowered her sword again, letting her muscles relax.

"So what do you want?" Blake asked. Roman paused for a moment and looked Blake directly in her eyes.

"A chance to get to know you," he said. "And a chance for you to get to know me. If this doesn't end up how I think it will, we can return to what we've been doing. But you and I both want to know where this will go."

"Do we?"

"You're here." Blake was silent again. She had to admit he had a point. Blake wanted to know where Roman was going with his delivery, she wanted to know why she couldn't do what her job required her to do and she wanted to see the end of this.

"Perhaps this will end with a knife in one of our backs," Roman continued. "I don't put it past either of us." Roman held out his hand and left it there. Blake remained motionless and Roman coughed. "This is where we shake hands." Blake slowly fully sheathed Gambol Shroud and grasped Roman's hand in one firm shake.

* * *

 _Present Day_

Blake walked outside her apartment and looked around the area. The fall season was starting, the temperature was perfect and the trees were all beginning their transition. It was a beautiful and perfect day. Exactly the kind of day she loved to take long walks through.

Blake started to walk down the road, her first stop placed well in her mind.

* * *

 _Three Years Ago_

Meetings with Blake and Roman became steady and constant. They always took place in a neutral location, always took place a bit away from the reach of authorities but still in a region safeguarded from Grimm. Things progressed well for them, they grew to be good friends. However, inside of her, Blake felt like it wasn't enough, she longed and wanted more.

On this day, Blake and Roman were on the outskirts of a small lake, Blake's selection for a spot. They were walking along the shore, having a lengthy discussion about nothing.

"What do you mean you'd rather fight one horse sized duck rather than 10 duck sized horses?" Roman asked Blake. "That makes no sense to me."

"One enemy verses 10?" Blake countered. "I don't even understand why it's a question."

"Yes but 10 weaker enemies."

"How bad could one duck be?"

"Ducks can be spiteful animals." Blake sighed and shook her head.

"Where do you even come up with this stuff?"

"Oh the idiots I work with, you would not believe some of the things that come out of their mouths." Blake stopped and Roman stopped with her. "What's wrong?" Blake gave him a quizzical look before finally speaking.

"You haven't committed crimes," she finally said. "Since we started this."

"The White Fang have done plenty-."

"Not the White Fang, you. You've done nothing. Why?" Roman let out a small chuckle.

"I've been running," he admitted. "Running from your friends instead. I wanted to find out what was at the end of this road we are on, I wasn't lying. Much easier to stay on that road while also not attempting to rob every market on the way." Blake looked Roman in the eye and smiled. Without giving him a notice of words, she stepped into him, grabbed his head and pulled it into hers for a kiss.

Roman didn't hesitate to kiss back while wrapping his arms around Blake and pulling her a little bit closer. Both of them pulled out of the kiss after a bit and smiled at each other.

"I think I found where that road was taking us," Blake whispered.

"It's no Oz but I think I like this a little better," Roman whispered back.

* * *

 _Present Day_

Blake was waiting by the train station for the next train to take her to where she wanted to go. She dreaded the thought and she wanted to avoid it, but she had to go.

Blake's scroll buzzed and she pulled it out to look at it.

 _Either you're really good at hiding or you were telling the truth and I'm going to assume it was B. Do what you have to do Blake._

Blake didn't even reply to Yang this time, she just tucked her scroll away and looked out in the distance. The last line was sticking out to her.

 _'Do what you have to do Blake.' What the hell does she think I have to do? She probably knows what I'm doing, not like most people didn't already make an assumption about me._

She saw the train pulling up and pulled out her wallet. Once it pulled to a stop she stepped on board and started to pull out money for the attendant.

"Are you Blake Belladonna?" The attendant asked her. Blake didn't say a word and instead just nodded. "Oh, thank you for what you've done for all of us! My sister fought with you six months ago, she says you saved her life." Blake felt her skin turn ghostly white and her stomach fall. Outwardly, she managed a smile and a nod at the attendant.

"Thank you," she said. "It's all a part of what I have to do."

 _Blake? Blake!?_

 _Ms. Belladonna, glad to see you awake._

 _Complying with your request is lunacy, Ms. Belladonna. We cannot do it._

"Are you off to visit the graveyard?" The attendant asked, staring down at Blake's flowers. Blake blinked a few times to bring herself back to the present and she nodded. "Oh then put your money away. Station policy." Blake nodded and walked towards the back of the train, picking herself out an empty corner and having a seat. She looked out the window and began to wait for the movement.

* * *

 _One Year Ago_

Two years went by with Blake and Roman progressing their relationship. Roman continued to keep a clean slate and stay hidden, getting several tips from Blake about where people were looking and where to avoid.

For the personal side of their relations, it progressed very quickly. They enjoyed being intimate with each other and Roman even had found ways to secure small, out of the way homes for him and Blake to stay together in for a day or two at a time. It all felt right to Blake, it was what she had been wanting. It seemed perfect, except for one thing that she knew that she had to talk about with Roman.

It was a day after she had stayed the night with Roman. She was waiting in the kitchen, cup of tea in hand and dressed in a baggy t-shirt with her underwear on. Roman came walking out where the bedroom was, he was the second one awake for them.

"Good morning kitty cat," he said. "Have a good night's rest?"

"Mhm," Blake said through a sip of tea. Roman was dressed in nice pants and a clean shirt. He always insisted on making sure everything was done before he went to do anything.

"Good to hear." He went towards the kitchen, just in front of where Blake was seated. She place her tea down and let out a long sigh. Roman turned around to face her, eyebrows furrowed.

"That's not a 'Good news for my loving and ever so charming boyfriend' sigh," he said instantly. "Do I have to worry about moving again?"

"No," Blake said evenly. There was a ping of sadness in her voice, making Roman worried.

"Have you finally come to put a knife in my back?"

"Never!" Blake was quick and sharp on her reply. She was so committed to Roman that the accusation alone filled her with pain. She hated to think that he may have even the smallest seed of doubt about what she was doing, especially when she was risking as much if not more by being with him.

"Then what is it?" He asked. Blake looked down at her tea, refusing to lift her eyes from the liquid.

"How long do you think we can keep this up?" She asked.

"What do-?"

"I mean that you are a wanted criminal, being hunted down by people who hate you and want to see you hang for your crimes which includes my friends. I am here trying to keep you alive against everything I've ever sworn to because I care about you and I enjoy this and I don't want you to be taken from me."

"I won't-."

"But we can't do this forever Roman," Blake said. She started to feel herself choke up. It was the alternative that she didn't want to think about. It was a life that she didn't want to even entertain the thought of. Roman walked around the counter and put his hands around her waist and leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey, you're not going to lose me," Roman whispered. "I promise you. Nobody's going to kill me." Blake sniffed a little bit and leaned against Roman.

"Not true," she whispered. "I'm the only one who gets to kill you." Roman laughed and kissed Blake on her forehead.

"Yes, only you are allowed that honor."

* * *

 _Present Day_

Blake kept staring blankly out the window at the passing trees and buildings. She had stopped trying to fight her memories flooding her. They kept coming and she just accepted what was going to rush through her.

The train ride was long, it was taking her out of the city. Every time she knew that they were getting closer, her heart raced a little faster and dread flooded her senses even more.

 _I want to get off and walk away,_ she thought. _But I can't. I have to stay here, I have to face this eventually._

The train pulled to a stop and the sign changed to notify that they were at the stop nearest to the graveyard, leaving her a short walk away. Blake sighed, rose to her feet and walked to the front. The same attendant that greeted her earlier smiled and waved goodbye as Blake left the train.

"Have a good visit, Ms. Belladonna," she said.

"Thanks," Blake replied. She started to walk away, not looking back at the train that could have been her only escape out of what she felt obligated to do.

* * *

 _Ten Months Ago_

Blake had taken that morning to go walk with Roman in the woods nearby where RWBY was currently staying. It was the third walk she had taken that week, since rumors were amuck that Roman was somewhere nearby. Blake was slowly trying to ease everyone off of that idea, but meanwhile keeping her visits with Roman frequent. It was rare that her job paid for her to be near Roman so she wanted to take the opportunity while she could.

When she got back, she was greeted by a rare sight. Yang was sitting alone at the table in their tent. Once the curtain made noise of pulling back Yang got up and turned around to face Blake.

"There you are!" She said. "No note, no nothing, I was getting worried that you-."

"Where's Ruby and Weiss?" Blake asked. Their tent was a simple setup, there were four beds, a table and a small impromptu kitchen that served primarily as a food storage. Yang sighed as Blake walked past her and into the kitchen area.

"Out scouting." Blake nodded and started rifling through the fridge. "And where were you?"

"Walking," Blake said, closing the door to the fridge and bringing out a small bowl of tuna and starting to open it up while grabbing herself a spoon.

"Walking huh? Anything else?"

"Just walking." Blake sat down at the table and started eating as Yang continued to stare at her.

"You sure do take a lot of walks."

"I like my walks." Blake continued to eat while Yang stared her down. Yang eventually sat down next to Blake and stared her down.

"We have another meeting this afternoon," Yang said. "About where to look next."

"It's a waste of time," Blake said instantly. "He's clearly not here, or we would have found him by now."

"Why do you keep saying that?" Yang asked. "Torchwick's a cockroach, he sneaks and he hides in the smallest of cracks. Give him a half inch of cardboard and he'll hide in it."

"We've scoured this forest to less than a half inch of cardboard looking for Roman, I'm pretty sure that he's not here."

"And you've been saying that for a week Blake but we're going to be absolutely sure of it." Blake shrugged and kept eating.

"We get paid either way, I would just rather be on an accurate trail." Yang sighed and shook her head.

"So you keep saying in every meeting." Yang got up and walked over to her bed, sitting down and pulling out her scroll. Blake kept eating, trying to appear as non-committed as she could. The more monotonous she seemed the less likely it was for her to raise suspicion. Of course Roman was nearby the woods, he just kept moving to areas they had marked as clear. It was a good system for keeping him out of harm's way. Part of her didn't want them to move, she wanted to be in an area with Roman nearby. But the rest of her knew that it wasn't possible. She had to keep moving, Roman had to keep moving. They both had to keep moving.

* * *

 _Present Day_

Blake walked down the path slowly. It wasn't a tremendously long walk to the graveyard but it felt like an eternity to Blake. Blake saw a sign and stopped to read it, even though the words were burned into her mind.

 _Cloak Graveyard  
_ _Here lies all who fell_

Cloak _was_ a small town, a little out of the way of Vale. It was tremendously populated and in the midst of a bit of forestation. It had been left alone for a long time, until six months ago.

Blake walked through every tombstone, not stopping until she was in the very back. There was a single, square tombstone not marked with anything more than a name. Blake kneeled down and placed her flowers in front of the grave.

"Hi Roman," she whispered.

* * *

 _Six Months Ago_

It had been a quiet day for Blake. She had run through her routine and was left mostly alone, her team sometimes gave her quiet days to herself. She had no idea what was going to come into her day.

Ruby, Weiss and Yang came running up to her and threw her bag to her while she was sitting just outside of their room.

"Get up, we have to get going," Ruby said. "We've got him cornered."

"What?" Blake said.

"Roman," Weiss said. "Roman and the two groups working with him, Legion and Uprising." Blake felt her breath escape her and her hair stand up straight.

"We… Found…?"

"Followed up an old tip we had," Yang said. "We know exactly where they are but they won't be there for long."

"Wh-?"

"Cloak," Yang answered. "And there's no time. We need to leave right now." Blake got to her feet and opened up her bag. Inside of it was a few extra clips of Dust rounds and some emergency medical supplies. Absent from it was her scroll, which she checked for if it was on her.

 _No… No… I have to warn him,_ Blake thought. All thoughts were replaced with panic, but she couldn't leave her team. Her scroll was in their room and she knew how emergency missions worked. She was the one who didn't get the notice, since her scroll wasn't on her and instead her team had to inform her and she had to leave instantly.

* * *

Team RWBY was on was a bullhead transport, they were flying to just outside of the town, where combat was already occurring. Their mission was simple, find and kill Roman Torchwick and any members of Uprising or Legion that they found.

The whole time, all Blake could think of was how she was going to find Roman first. She had to get to him, she had to get him out of here. It could be the end of the road for her as a huntress but she didn't care.

When the bullhead landed, RWBY got out and drew their weapons.

"Split up, cover ground and report back if you find anything," Ruby immediately commanded. Everyone followed without another word, trusting in Ruby's command.

Blake went towards the outer ring of Cloak, hoping that Roman was attempting to flee and she could find him out there. Both Uprising and Legion were very new groups in general, they lacked a lot of experience fighters. Blake knew that she could cut through them without any problems.

First, a man stepped up to her that was a little taller than her and a lot bulkier. He carried a sword, had a pair of jeans on and a golden jacket with an eagle crest.

 _Legion,_ Blake thought. He let out a yell and went high on her. Blake ducked down and brought her sword through his stomach. He let out a small gasp before crumpling to the ground. Behind him a woman with a pipe ran at her. She wore a sleeveless gray shirt and jeans. _And Uprising._ Blake blocked the pipe with her sword and swung it around at the girl's throat, letting her corpse fall to the side.

Blake ran past them and saw a small group of various members of both parties, all armed with various weapons. She sighed, rushing forward and shadowing into the middle of all of them. She swung around her sword, deflecting and striking every member down. Soon all she was left with was a pile of corpses.

 _God dammit Roman, where the fuck are you?_ She wondered. She started to run towards the outskirts again, cutting down everyone that stood in her path. She kept onward until she started to see all of the members of Legion and Uprising turning around and running away from them. Blake didn't pay them any mind, assuming they were running from the slaughter her team and the other hunters were bringing down on them.

 _Where are you? Come on… Please just be right around here!_

"BLAKE!" Someone yelled out. Blake raised her sword again but lowered it once she saw who was running to her.

"Yang?" Blake said questioningly. "What's going on?"

"They're retreating!" Yang said, stopping in front of Blake. "We've got them." Blake turned away from Yang, ready to keep going but Yang grabbed Blake's arm.

"What?" Blake said. "We have a job to do, I-."

"I got him Blake." Blake felt time stop and all other noise leave the world at hearing those words.

 _No… No… She can't…_

"What do you mean?" Blake said, her words shaking as they left her mouth. Yang didn't seem to notice anything.

"I got Roman, he's done." Yang had a huge smile on her face, delivering Blake the news that their long time mission had finally been finished. It was over, the hunt was over. It took Yang a few moments to realize that Blake wasn't smiling along with her. "Blake?"

Blake felt hollow. Her own mission had been destroyed, this man that she had fallen in love with was gone, killed by her best friend. But Blake couldn't be mad at Yang, ultimately Yang had succeeded and Blake had failed. Her chest was collapsing in on itself and she fell to her knees.

"Blake?!"

Her whole body felt numb as she went limp and started to fall to the side, only to be caught by Yang. She had no energy to resist the strong grab of her partner and just started to sob. She didn't care how it looked to anyone else, she just cared about the hole in her heart that needed to be physically acknowledged.

* * *

The aftermath of that night was clean from most standpoints. Yang provided the body of Roman, something the rest of RWBY never actually got to see. Uprising and Legion were put on roundup and all fell into custody shortly thereafter.

Blake was able to keep every report fairly simple, she didn't have a lot to officially say anyways. Until she ran into one issue.

The battle of Cloak took a lot of lives, Uprising, Legion and hunters alike. So much so that a graveyard was proposed and approved for everyone that fell, except for one name that was left off that list. One that Blake arranged for a meeting with Ozpin and Ironwood to fight with them about.

"Why isn't Roman getting a tombstone?" Blake asked. It was her, Ozpin and Ironwood in Ozpin's office with Blake on one side of the table, Ozpin in his chair, Ironwood next to him and Glynda standing by the elevator.

"Because he was a wanted criminal," Ironwood said. "The top name on our most wanted list."

"How many crimes did all the other Legion and Uprising members commit in the past few years?" Blake challenged. "The years where Roman was responsible for no crimes?"

"Irrelevant when discussing terror threats! Why do you even want this so badly, Belladonna? Your job was to kill him and-."

"And my teammate fulfilled the job of our _entire team._ I want the marking, I want the credit that we killed him. Just put up a fucking rock with his name on it, he earned that courtesy of us and I just-." Blake stopped, trying to feign pure anger but her words betrayed her. It was really her voice stopping on a sob. It was so hard to pretend to have hated him, it truly was.

"Ms. Belladonna, we cannot-," Ironwood began, only to be cut off by a hand from Ozpin. He was silent at first, watching Blake as she let out her heavy breaths. Finally he rose to his feet and started to walk away from the table.

"Glynda," Ozpin said. "Add in orders for a tombstone for Roman Torchwick."

"Ozpin, you can't-!" Ironwood started.

"General Ironwood, Ms. Belladonna has valid points. She is correct, several well-known criminals are getting a tombstone and team RWBY deserves that marker for what they had done." He walked to the window and stopped.

"He will have a tombstone with his name on it, nothing more," Ozpin continued. "Your team has done an excellent job for us and your team deserves a break. One month, no missions. During this time we will evaluate you as huntresses and whether or not you shall continue on as a team."

"Professor, why would we-?" Blake started.

"Your mission as a team is complete and perhaps there is a greater need for you four as individuals."

"Sir-."

"You are dismissed Ms. Belladonna." Blake bit her tongue and sighed. She bowed and entered the elevator, closing it and exiting to the bottom floor to return to her team.

Ironwood never let his eyes leave Ozpin, his face full of fury.

"Why would you grant him a tombstone?" He asked.

"For two reasons," Ozpin said. "Team RWBY truly has earned their tombstone as a trophy. It will mark what they have done."

"And the second reason?" Ozpin watched the outside of his office, observing as Blake walked down the path from his tower.

"Not everyone hated that man."

* * *

 _Present Day_

True to his word, Ozpin broke RWBY up into singles. Each one of them found a place to live independent of each other and started to build a strong foundation. Ruby became very busy with missions, Weiss and Yang each fairly busy but Blake was given longer before receiving sparse missions. She understood that she probably was under heavy suspicion, but she didn't care. She fought for her love's grave, she got it but she had refused to visit it. It hurt too much, she still hadn't recovered from what had happened. Even to this day, she still wasn't ready. But here she was, standing at his grave, paying long overdue respects.

"I'm sorry it took me so long," she whispered, getting down onto her knees, solidifying herself into staying there for longer. "I was just… Unwilling to accept what I had lost." She closed her eyes, trying to stop tears from rising to her eyes even though they were already coming. She swallowed a huge lump in her throat and tried to ignore the pain in her chest as it slowly closed in on itself.

"God, I can hear you calling me a scaredy cat," Blake said with a small smile. "Well, actually it's you. You would say, 'Get over it, pussy cat and spend some time with the man you love.'" Blake opened her eyes and let the tears run down her cheek.

"I don't think I ever said it to you," she said. "At least… Outside of physically intimate times. But… I loved you Roman. I love you still. I just…" She started to cry, having to stop her words to catch her breath. "I miss you so much… I love you… Please… Just… Know that…" She bent her head and cried freely. She cried out the emotions she had to keep pent up and hidden for six months. She cried to try and get her chest to relieve some of the pressure being put on it but it wasn't happening. She just felt more and more sad, more and more deprived and more and more alone.

"How could you not love a man with my charm and my looks?" Someone said. Blake lifted her head up and turned toward the direction of the voice. Standing by a pillar in the graveyard was a man with black, short hair combed nearly on his head. He had on a nice white, coat with a pair of black pants and brown boots. But the one thing that Blake noticed was his eyes, his beautiful green eyes surrounded by heavy makeup. There was only one person that Blake knew he could be.

"Roman!" She called out. She scrambled to her feet and ran into his arms, hugging him tight and crying into his coat. She didn't question anything for a second, just enjoying the warm feeling of being back in Roman's arms. Finally she broke and backed away from him, looking over him with a little bit of skepticism in her eyes.

"But… How are you…? Here? And not there?" She looked back at his grave with flowers on it and Roman smiled.

"The story of my death was a little bit oversold, Kitty Cat," he said. He took a step towards her but Blake backed away, not sure if she trusted what was in front of her.

"But… How? You were dead, you should have been dead, there was a corpse presented and accepted as you. How-?"

"He had a little bit of help," someone else added in. Blake looked behind Roman to the pillar he had been standing in front of, only to let out a gasp at who was standing in front of her now.

* * *

 _Ten Months Ago_

"So you keep saying in every meeting."

Yang gave up trying to have a conversation with Blake, figuring it was pointless now. But her concerns had been raised about Blake, most important she was convinced of something about her partner.

Yang pulled out her scroll and found the contact she wanted before typing out a message.

 _Hey Junior, willing to do an old friend a favor?_ The reply was almost immediate.

 _What do you want Blondie?_

 _Just a little bit of a following mission from someone you have. Complete with video footage._

 _When do you need it?_

 _Now._

 _Fine, I'll send someone over to you. Just give them a picture of who you want tailed._

 _Thanks Junior. Maybe I'll pay for my drinks next time._

 _Yeah, sure._

Yang smiled and put away her scroll, looking at her partner as she ate her tuna.

 _You're going to be found out, one way or another._

* * *

Junior's man tailed Blake and gave Yang video footage. Apparently he did a good enough job of not being seen because he reported back to Yang with a video of Blake meeting up with exactly who she thought Blake would be meeting up with, Roman. Yang only wondered why for a moment before seeing the pair kiss.

It brought everything into clarity for Yang. Why Blake always was so dodgy in meetings about Roman, why he always seemed to escape and how Blake never seemed to care about it. It left Yang to wonder what to do about it, but she figured out what to do.

Roman had been mostly crime free for years, most likely around the same time Blake started seeing him. She cared about her teammate, but knew how things could end for Blake and Roman. There was only one action she could take.

* * *

 _Two Months Later_

Yang waited for Blake to leave for one of her walks one day and followed behind her. She knew that RWBY had obligations in the morning, so all she had to do was wait for Blake to meet with Roman and depart from their meeting.

Blake and Roman met in the woods. Yang watched from a safe distance as they talked, kissed and seemed happy to spend time with each other. Happy enough to the point where Blake and Roman seemed oblivious to their surroundings.

 _Guess a few years of this has led to fewer worries,_ Yang thought.

After a few hours, Blake finally kissed Roman goodbye and started to leave. Yang saw her chance and moved up to be even with Roman, who wasn't moving from his spot. Yang managed to get near him and waited behind a tree for a moment.

"Hate it when you go but love the view as you leave," she said. Roman immediately turned towards her, fists raised and ready to fight. Yang stepped out from behind the tree, her hands in the air.

"Alright Blondie," Roman said. "And what do I owe the pleasure of-?"

"Save it, Roman, I'm not here for that." Roman remained on guard, holding his fists up even though he knew that weaponless he didn't stand a chance against Yang. "I'm here to talk about you and Blake." His posture wavered for a second and Yang pushed her advantage.

"You and her seem to be pretty friendly," Yang continued. "A lot more friendly than she is with anyone else I know."

"What do you want?" Roman asked. He lowered his hands and kept a hard stare on Yang.

"Well for a long time I've wanted you behind bars or dead," Yang said. "Part of the job, probably a fairly mutual feeling between us. But Blake is my best friend, I care about her and clearly you do to and you have put a break on crime for her."

"Get to the point Blondie, I have people to meet." Yang smiled at Roman.

"I'm going to offer you a chance at a clean, worry free life with Blake."

* * *

Between Yang and Roman, a plan was set. He worked out partnerships with two groups stationing himself and his groups in Cloak. He left obvious crumbs for everyone to follow; when the hunters and huntresses came for him, he waited in a pre-determined building.

On that day, six months in the past, Yang came bursting into the room with a body that she had thoroughly beat down and sloppily dressed like Roman. Roman himself was dressed in a golden jacket, jeans and a baseball cap.

"Where did you get a corpse on short notice?" Roman asked.

"I killed somebody on the way over," Yang explained. "He probably did something bad."

"Morally relatively questionable."

"Oh shut the fuck up." Yang tossed the body on the ground and looked at him. "Ready to go?"

"I wouldn't dress that sloppy," Roman said. "And how the hell did you dress him that quickly?"

"I will explain it to you on the way, get out the fucking window." Roman held up his hands and put out a message to Legion and Uprising to retreat.

"No one will be able to tell you from the rest of the crowd," Yang said with a smile. "You're going to have to cut up and dye your hair."

"You'll help me with that," Roman said. "What about Blake?" Yang's face fell from its smile and filled with sadness.

"That part is going to suck." She looked out the entrance. "You can't see her right away, she can't know about this at all. People suspect her of a lot, she needs to think you're gone for now."

"Why-?"

"Just trust me," Yang said, turning back to face Roman again. "Ironwood's not going to let her go unchecked." Roman sighed and started to climb out the window, looking back at Yang.

"Thank you," he said.

"Your welcome, now start running pretty boy." Roman took off in a sprint and Yang sighed and started to walk outside.

 _I'm sorry Blake._

* * *

"And once you fought for the tombstone, I knew that this was the best place to bring him up. We had to change some styling things about him and Junior had to pull some strings for a new identity, but he's still Roman."

Blake was standing, staring at Yang and Roman. Her eyes were wide, her mind not fully willing to believe but all she wanted to do was kiss Roman. She had so many questions, but did they really matter?

"I'm sorry Blake," Yang said. "Watching you break down and knowing why was… Honestly one of the hardest things of my life. But people already thought you were being suspicious so I had to-."

"Thank you," Blake finally said. She looked at Yang and smiled. "Thank you for everything." Yang smiled and gave her a nod. Blake turned to Roman and changed her look to a fake glare. "And you." Roman looked around and pointed to himself in mock surprise to match her, mouthing the words 'Me?'

"Yes you," Blake said as she walked up to him. Blake put her arms around Roman's shoulders and looked at him dead on. "Mm, you left me alone for six months."

"That wasn't my fault," Roman protested. Blake lifted a hand to his mouth and shushed him.

"I don't care. You're going to have to make up for it. I want a weekend with your undivided attention where you spoil me."

"I'm working an honest job, Kitty Cat. Money takes time." Blake leaned into him and kissed him gently, feeling pure bliss at his lips being back on hers. She leaned out of it a little bit.

"I didn't mean spoil me with money," she whispered. "You'll do that just fine in other ways."

"Ahem," Yang coughed. "Not to be the mildest of buzz kills, but Ruby and Weiss don't know that he's the Roman Torchwick, the world doesn't know that. You're going to have to be careful." Blake glanced over at her former partner and shrugged.

"I'll figure it out."

 **End: Questions, comments and feedback are always appreciated.**


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